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(KMOV.com) – A judge on Monday freed a Missouri man who was forgotten about in the prison system.

Mike Anderson was immediately released from custody after Judge Terry Brown declared his 4,794 days free counted as time served.

"I believe continuing to incarcerate you serves no purpose, would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and punish a good man," Brown said.

Upon Brown's ruling, Anderson embraced his wife and daughter in an emotional scene. Brown told Anderson to go home to his family and to "continue to be a good father and tax-paying citizen."

Anderson was convicted of robbing a Burger King in St. Charles in 1999. He was supposed to report to prison in 2002 when the appeals process ran out, but was never incarcerated due to a clerical error.

Since 2002, Anderson got married, became a regular church-goer and became determined to turn his life around.

Anderson reported to prison in 2013 after federal authorities tracked him down in Webster Groves, where he was living with his wife and family. He has been serving the first several months of his 13-year sentence at the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, Mo.

Anderson’s attorney filed a lawsuit in late April against the director of the department of corrections. The lawsuit argued Anderson should receive credit for the 13 years he was free.